Good Morning Barry,
Thank you for your wonderful emails regarding tinnitus. I hope all has been well with you, since I emailed you a couple of years ago.
I am heading into an ablation procedure this coming Tuesday and wondered if the anesthetic used might worsen my tinnitus. The only thing that I take to help me relieve my tinnitus is lorazepam. An ablation process is when the Cardio Electrophysiologist sends thin strands with zappers and a camera through the arteries to the heart, to zap areas and reduce SVT (rapid heart beat) and also possibly to see if A-Fibs can be corrected while in there.
Many thanks, Barry, for any info you can send my way.
All the best,
Alec
Dorset, Vermont
Dear Alec,
You didn’t mention if you will receive a local or general anesthetic so I assume you’re talking about general anesthesia where you are made unconscious.
All anesthetics have the potential to cause tinnitus but the incidence is not high. The most popular general anesthetic in use today is Propofol. One reason for its popularity is the patient wakes quickly and does not need to spend a lot of time in recovery. Propofol lists tinnitus as a rare side effect, occurring in 0.1% to 1% of patients who use it.
A good way to make certain you do not develop tinnitus is to take N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC). This is an inexpensive anti-oxidant that helps prevent ototoxicity due to medications. I recommend 1,000 to 2,000 mg per day, taken in two equal doses. Start today if possible. Continue for at least one week after the ablation. NAC can be found in most health food stores. You cannot take too much of it and there are no side effects.
Wishing you quiet times,
Barry Keate
Hi Barry,
Is there any other research involving tinnitus, Meniere’s disease and a low carb diet as a fix to help alleviate symptoms?
Best regards,
Catherine B.
Dear Catherine,
Yes, there is. Although the original cause of Meniere’s is unknown, it results in the build-up of fluids in the vestibular canals which control balance. High sugar foods cause the body to retain fluid and this can make Meniere’s disease worse. Therefore, a low carb diet should be helpful for Meniere’s.
Sugar metabolism disorders, such as hyperinsulinemia (a precursor to diabetes), has long been known to cause tinnitus. One study showed between 84% and 92% of tinnitus patients were shown to have hyperinsulinemia. When placed on a diet suitable for diabetics, over 50% of patients who adhered to the diet had significant improvement or complete resolution of their tinnitus. The researchers stated sugar metabolism disorders are one of the probable causes of Meniere’s disease as well as tinnitus.
A 2016 study published in the International Archives of Otolaryngology found identification of carbohydrate metabolism disturbances is important to minimize the patients’ clinical symptoms.
Low carb diets are very healthy for a number of reasons, tinnitus and Meniere’s included.
Wishing you quiet times,
Barry Keate
Hi Barry,
I have had tinnitus for years and also mild hearing loss. Does tinnitus cause hearing loss or does hearing loss cause tinnitus?
Thanks,
Jeanne M.
Dear Jeanne,
Thank you for your question; it is one frequently asked by people with tinnitus. The truth is, tinnitus does not cause hearing loss but hearing loss causes tinnitus. Many people think tinnitus is making their hearing worse. This is not the case. Continued hearing loss makes tinnitus worse.
Exact numbers vary but some estimates are that as high as 90% of people with tinnitus have it as the result of hearing loss. This can be caused by aging or exposure to noise, either a single large explosive event or years of exposure to loud noise. There are also a number of disease conditions and medications that are toxic to the ears that can cause tinnitus.
You may want to view our article that describes how noise exposure leads to damage of the hair cells in the cochlea and how this translates to the ringing sound most of us hear as tinnitus.
Wishing you quiet times,
Barry Keate